Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Hope in God for my heart will still praise Him. The Psalms are filled with David lamenting his circumstances. And he certainly had plenty to be down about!  Saul out to kill him, running for his life, waiting for his appointed time as king, enemies all about him.   But what is so wonderful about David is that no matter how much he kvetches to God, He always ends up  praising and thanking God in the midst of his awful circumstances (see Psalm 43:5, for one). Do we do the same?  If only! How do you get unstuck from emotions of disappointment, doubt, fear, and worry when the "hits just keep coming?" Hope in God. Three little words but packed with power and punch. My hope is not in my paycheck, thank you doubt and fear. My hope is not in how others treat me, thank you disappointment. My hope is not in being successful, thank you comparison. Nope.  If I hope in any of these, I will never know true and lasting peace.  Why not?  Because each and every one is temporary and could chan

God is in control.  God’s got this. You may have heard, read, or even said these words yourself. Yet do we really believe this when surrounded by tumultuous circumstances? Why hasn’t He intervened yet? He is waiting for us to stay at rest in the midst of it. To hold our peace no matter what.  He is training  us, kiddos. He is waiting for us to stop arguing, reasoning, defending and going around the same mountain of crazy that can never be fixed by these things like reasoning and trying to figure it out; not in a million years. Let's do our best to learn what God is trying to teach us, do in us, so that He can step in and do what only He can do! We do out part so that He can do His.  When we team up with God, miracles happen!  Or at the very least, we get through the day with His love and joy in our hearts instead of disarray, confusion, or stress.  Sign me up! Believe that you truly can do all things through Him including holding your peace in the middle of a raging storm. This isn

When God brought His people out of the wilderness into the land that He promised them, they were in crisis.  Pharaoah's army behind them, the Red Sea in front of them - they were trapped!  They were trapped in the natural , that is.   They were stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place with no way out.   Enter God. Ever feel stuck?  Do you want escape from a situation from which there simply is no escape?   Why did God allow this mess to happen to the Jews?  He led them right into it!  He could have confused the troops and sent them off course, but He didn't.  He could have led the Jews another way out of the desert that didn't bring them to the Red Sea, but He didn't. God had a bigger and better way to reveal Himself to them.  He wanted to show them just how much He could do for them.  He defied the forces of nature because He controls all nature!   God parted the Red Sea for them to cross through into the Promised Land.  That was an act of God! Stuck?  God says

We are called to love one another.  That is Jesus' command to us - Love each other as I have loved you, He said.   We can do this as a doctor, as a wife, as a mother, as a ditch digger, as a movie star, as a singer, as a high school teacher -- you catch my drift. Our job title or role factors into it zero when it comes to loving others.  We are to love people wherever we go, whatever we do.  This is Jesus' non-negotiable for us.  This is our foundational calling. Jobs comes, jobs go.  Relationships change.  Status wavers.  Careers can leave us wanting more and eventually end.   We have many assignments and roles in life - they change with the seasons or years, depending on our age or circumstances. But our main calling never changes.  Not ever.   If we're the greatest _______ (fill in the blank) who ever lived and yet have little love in our hearts, we're missing our calling. We've come to value the wrong things in life, overall.  We are impressed by the "outer

When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you sign up for all sorts of things that you didn’t know you were signing up for. For me, much of the time I don’t like God’s plan. Just sayin’. Why not? Because. It’s. Hard. You can love the Lord with all your heart and still not be crazy about His plan at times.  Yes, of course I am familiar with Jeremiah 29:11.  But we all know that some days, some seasons, some years, some lives are just plain hard. Growing up is hard and that is exactly what we’re called to do as His children: become mature adults in every way. Where’s the fun in that, you may wonder. God asks hard things of us. There’s a popular saying these days: We do hard things. Good for you. But the sorts of hard things that Jesus calls us to are actually impossible in and of ourselves. Why? Because they are supernatural. How many of these can we actually do in our own strength? - stay in peace while being attacked verbally or spiritually or mentally  - forgive - really forg

What comes to mind when you read those two words?  There is only one being to whom absolute authority has been given: the Lord Jesus Christ.  King Jesus! Now, who comes to mind when I say meek and mild?  Oh yeah.  That's  Jesus. Don't you know He's both? But how can someone meek and mild possess absolute authority?  He simply does. We all know that the most talented in the artistic world neither have to flaunt it nor proclaim it.  They simply are .  It may be a poor analogy (!), but in the same way, Jesus needs neither to flaunt nor proclaim His supremacy.  He simply is . No ego.  No "demanding" presence.  His absolute power is coming from a place of total goodness.  Our minds can barely comprehend this because our points of reference are mere humans - all of whom, even the best of them, are flawed in their leadership qualities. There is something comforting about knowing that the all-powerful force of the universe is a loving, grace-filled, kind, generous, all-kn

How do you know a lie from the truth?  When talking about Scripture, it is very clear.  The Lord made it plain for us to understand His truth by giving us the Bible.  That is the standard by which all other "truths" are to be measured. So that is the lowdown when it comes to what's what regarding truth and Truth. However, I'd like to focus on our thought lives.  Really, do you have to go there? you may be asking.  Hold on. It gets good! It's been said that we have up to 70,000 thoughts a day.  That is a lot of thoughts!   How many are worthwhile?  (crickets) Are you a "positive" thinker?  Maybe you are, but are you dealing in Reality - the light of God's revealed truth through His Word - or just "being good?" When you belong to Christ, you have an enemy.  It is the devil and for now, at least, he is alive and out to stir up as much trouble and evil as possible - both in the world and in the hearts, minds, and lives of the Redeemed. To call

So we all know that we can’t change the past or live in it. But how do we not keep foreseeing more of the same?  After all, that’s how things “always” work out for us, right? How do we stop dragging past mishaps into the present? When we have experienced much pain and suffering in life, it can become hard to imagine a brighter, happier future.  Our minds are a very powerful thing.  They remember everything.   As we get older, this may be hard to believe - as we get more forgetful! But it's all in there.  Everything we ever heard, saw, experienced, said - our brains are like computers with an unlimited hard drive capacity. So what is it that we are recalling?  Which "document" are we opening from our hard drive? Here's the beauty of how God made our minds: we are able to create new thoughts with them!  Ha! So when those old "documents" threaten to steal our joy and try to remind us of things that we'd just as soon forget, we can choose - in that moment! -

If you are reading further than the title, I'm guessing you found yourself in one or more of the title words. Maybe you are looking for a way out of these traps. Join the club! Whether we do these things "on purpose" or they are simply part of our fallen nature, whether we have formed bad habits in any of these areas, or whether we don't even realize we are doing it - we are only harming ourselves in the process. No one - and I repeat - no one is 100% happy with themselves.  And if they are, then their major issue is narcissism and conceit.   So on some level, we are all prone to comparing ourselves with others, competing with others, or complaining about, well, just about anything or anyone. Wait for it, I am getting to the good part! There is hope!  The only way I know to combat these dirty demons is by focusing on Christ instead of others or self.   We are unable to compare or compete with Christ - He is Lord!  And this is a wonderful thing.  For He is truly the on

There is a hierarchy!  And all the world's problems point back to this - how we mess with the hierarchy and thereby make a mess. This happens at all levels - on the world stage down to the home. Here's the hierarchy: God Mankind Pretty simple, huh?  Do you see how it went wrong?   Here's the messed up hierarchy: Mankind God Yes, the Lord gave us dominion over the earth, to rule and care for it.  But!  But under His Lordship and rule.  What would that look like?  Exponentially better than what we've got! When we seek the Lord, He gives us direction.  He knows best because, well, He is Lord! How do I make the best decision here, Lord?  What is in the best interest for this country, this state, this city, this family?  Our position will dictate which of these we seek Him about. When we don't seek Him, we are relying on our own wits and brains.  Now there are some awfully smart people that God made.  But are any of them Omniscient?  Enough said on that! God knows the be

What does it mean to wait well?  And how long does the Lord expect us to wait on Him? I have been waiting on fhe Lord for almost 30 years for one of my prayers to be answered.  Another, over 10 years. The fact that these particular prayers haven't been answered yet doesn't mean that God doesn't hear me or care.   So what's the hold-up?  Is it me?  Doesn't God see how His answering these prayers would make life better for me?  Because in my mind, they would exponentially improve my life. But then my mind is limited.  God's mind is unlimited. God is always at work in our lives.  Doing what?  Yes, answering our prayers is one way.  But it is not the only way He is working for us.   What happenes to our faith when our prayers go unanswered for a very long time?  Does it strengthen as we persist in believing God no matter what?  Or does it lessen because we don't see the answers come to fruition yet? Whether our faith gets stronger or fades is up to us.  Faith is

What if Noah had gone around asking everyone he knew, "God told me to build an ark. What do you think I should do?" It sounds crazy when we put it that way, yet that is exactly what we usually do when the Lord tells us to do something. We know that 100% of the poeple would have advised Noah against building the ark. Why? Well, first of all, it had never rained on the earth yet, so they didn’t even know what rain was (including Noah). Second of all, it sounded just plain nuts! How do I know that 100% would have been against Noah building the ark?  No one got on board. What do we do when we know God is telling us to do something? Do we doubt that we heard from Him?  Do we doubt ourselves - our ability to carry out His orders?  Do we run to everyone we know for their "input?" Don't!   God knows exactly what He is doing.  We don't.  Remember, He sees the beginning from the end, so He knows what is about to take place up ahead.  We don't.   So when He tells

It is very tempting to give up in the heat of the battle.  Walking away, or giving up, is the easy way out.  And the relief it offers feels great at the time. But!  As Christians, we are called to persevere and fight the good fight!  I wish it weren't so, but the truth is that the Christian life contains spiritual battles galore! What you need to know when it happens: - there is a lie from the devil at the root of it - Jesus always provides the strength to endure when we look to Him to see us through it - there are rewards on the other side! - since Christ is all-powerful and already won the battle over the devil, we can face every battle knowing that with Christ in us and on our side, we too have the victory!  - the more you go through the battles, the more aware you become of the enemy's tactics and therefore can see it for what it is - you will feel anxious and riled up in your emotions because the enemy attacks our feelings and emotions, but wage war through prayer and wors